1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to a universal injection valve assembly. Specifically, the invention relates to an injection valve assembly structured to provide rapid, cyclic, and direct injection of an operative fluid, having an elevated temperature and pressure, into a chamber, such that the operative fluid rapidly expands or “flashes” into an accurately controlled amount of high pressure vapor capable of performing work in the chamber, for example, moving a piston in the cylinder of an engine.
2. Description of the Related Art
The benefits derived from the addition of a heated vapor, for example, steam, to a conventional air-fuel mixture prior to injection into a cylinder of a conventional internal combustion engine have been known for some time. One important advantage is the increase in the percentage of completion of combustion, which necessarily results in an increase in the horsepower generated and an improvement in fuel efficiency. The improved operational efficiency further results in an improvement in the air emissions (i.e. a reduction in emissions). Given the numerous advantages available from the addition of a vapor, such as steam, to a conventional air-fuel mixture, numerous devices have been developed attempting to harness and control this process. However, to date, few of these devices have found widespread acceptance and utilization, mainly due to the complexity of handling and, more importantly, controlling the quality and/or the quantity or rate of flow of the steam.
In particular, a common pitfall of many of these devices is that the components utilized for steam generation and delivery are often related to certain operating characteristics of the engine, such as an intake manifold vacuum pressure, an engine speed, and/or a quality and quantity of high temperature engine exhaust available for steam generation. In these devices, the quality and/or quantity of steam generated is dependent on one or more operating characteristics of the engine itself, thereby is requiring almost continuous adjustment of the operation of the engine to maintain a constant rate of flow of the steam. It is primarily this factor which is believed to be the reason why these devices have not achieved widespread acceptance and utilization.
Additionally, external factors, such as adverse weather conditions, may have a particularly severe and negative impact upon the viability of adding steam to a conventional air-fuel mixture. For example, many areas of the United States experience outdoor temperatures well below the freezing point of water for at least some portion of the year. Under these conditions, any residual water vapor remaining in a device, or its appurtenances, intended for outdoor use, such as an automobile engine, is at risk of freezing when the engine is not operating, which could easily result in temporary blockage of flow through the steam injection device. In more severe cases, freezing water vapor could result in the rupturing of lines, fittings, and/or other components of the steam injection device as the freezing water vapor expands on the inside of these components. Thus, in spite of the numerous advantages which may be obtained from the addition of steam to a conventional air-fuel mixture, the widespread acceptance and utilization of devices structured to achieve this goal has not become a reality.
In addition to the injection of steam into a conventional air-fuel mixture for conventional internal combustion engines, other engines which are structured to operate solely on steam are well known, for example, large scale conventional steam turbines and steam locomotive engines. These large scale systems are generally structured to operate on an almost continuous basis, and as such, they often derive their input energy from a continuous feed of live steam having an elevated temperature and pressure. Historically, however, attempts to scale down and regulate these large scale, continuous, live steam systems in relatively small scale, intermittently operated systems, for example, a four cycle engine, have been plagued with significant efficiency losses. It is believed that among the efficiency problems associated with the small scale systems is the energy loss of the live steam as it is acted upon by the dynamics of the small scale system. While it is understood that dynamic losses are present in large scale systems as well, the overall impact of the energy loss of the live steam is not as significant in terms of system efficiency, due in part to the large volume of steam utilized in such systems, as it is in relatively small scale systems.
A further difficulty encountered with attempts to scale down continuous, live steam systems is the accurate control of the quantity or rate of flow of live steam to a particular component of the system. This is a problem common to handling any compressible material, as there is a delicate balance and constant trade off between pressure, volume, and temperature. As such, and as noted above, given that steam energy losses are directly related to the system configuration, materials of construction, insulation factors, etc., these losses are exaggerated in small scale systems, particularly due to increased frictional and thermal losses through smaller scale pipes and fittings. Thus, to accurately control the quantity or rate of flow of steam to be delivered to a particular component of a system, the balance and interaction between the various components of the system and their impact upon a given quantity of steam at a given temperature and pressure must be completely understood and configured to ensure accurate delivery of the desired quantity and quality of steam at any point in the system. As it should be appreciated, given the extreme change in temperatures in the components of an intermittently operated small scale engine, for example, a four cycle automobile engine, accurate control of the quality and/or quantity of steam to a particular component of such an engine requires almost continuous and precise adjustment of the quality and/or quantity of the steam injection device.
As such, it would be beneficial for an assembly to permit direct injection of an accurately controlled amount of an operative fluid at a predetermined temperature and pressure to a combustion chamber of a small scale engine or other device, such as, for example, a sterling engine or a 4-cycle steam engine. Further, it would be advantageous for such an assembly to be capable of providing the accurately controlled amount of operative fluid at any one of a number of cyclic rates, such as the small scale engine or other device may demand due to different loads. Additionally, it would be helpful for such an assembly to be capable of providing any one of a number of accurately controlled amounts of the operative fluid at a given cyclic rate, such as the small scale engine or other device may demand due to different loads. Also, it would be beneficial to provide an assembly which is able to quickly and efficiently alternate between the numerous cyclic rates or accurately controlled amounts such as may be required by the small scale engine or other devices, such as, for example, a sterling engine or a 4-cycle steam engine, without adversely affecting the operational efficiency of the engine or other device.